Something Beautiful

My world could use a little more beauty lately, so I thought I would share with you some of the ways I am trying to do that.

I added this little number to my desk. I am obsessed with bunting these days. Little flags on string makes everything a little bit cuter. This one is made out of black and white polka-dot washi tape (another one of my obsessions), some left over scrapbook paper, and black yarn. Doesn't it make the desk super cute?

Ever since Meghan and I moved in I have been trying to think of something to do with this big empty wall space. I had a few ideas (some bigger bunting running from the desk to the bed, a black and white picture of the two of us, a giant painted canvas with a special quote or verse, or an inspiration board). In the end I decided to use our color scheme and our initials for some customized decorations.

I bought the frames from Dollar Tree (cheap, perfect!) and used scrapbook paper for the background and letters. I love love love how they turned out! I'm thinking about putting a large black and white photo of the two of us above the frames. What do you think?

I recently discovered that if my nails are painted, I'm like 348945 times less likely to bite them (that has been a problem since I was little). If you're a Facebook friend you may have noticed my Blackhawks/Pokeball nails earlier. They were so fun! But it was time for a change. Here's the new look:

So cute, right? They were inspired by this big blanket that Mom made me for Christmas.

These things are so small and so simple, but they really brighten my mood. Especially when it's so cold and dull outside. I have had a blast tapping into my creative side too. Win-win!

Have you been doing any crafty, creative things lately? I wanna see!

The Open Sea Before Me

I had every intention to make a big announcement today, but due to some lack of planning on my part (oops) it's not ready. I'll just save it for next week possibly.

In other news, classes started last week and I couldn't be more excited about my course load. This semester I will be spending a lot of time learning about and practicing discipleship, communication, and counseling skills -things I will need to be an effective Christian counselor.

These days it seems like everything is lining up perfectly to prepare me for my future. I finally have a vision of what my career path might look like, and if you have been following me since freshman year of college you know how big of a deal that is. My major and emphases have been changed several times in these three years of undergrad, but this one feels different (better) than the rest. More than a feeling, I can see how the experiences and gifting of my life have led me in this direction. The greatest thing is that I am constantly being affirmed in this area by those around me. It feels so good.

To be clear, I'm not pretending to have it all figured out. I still have no idea in what context I might want/be called to counsel. I don't know if grad school will be part of the picture. It's just relieving to finally have some sense of direction, some vision or purpose to help me push through.

Praising God for His continued work in my life,

Worn

This week is rough so I didn't really write anything, at least not anything I feel comfortable sharing. Instead I'm posting the lyrics to a song that has been on repeat all week, and I ask that you keep my family in your prayers.

"Worn" by Tenth Avenue North

I’m tired, I’m worn
My heart is heavy
From the work it takes 
To keep on breathing
I’ve made mistakes
I’ve let my hope fail
My soul feels crushed 
By the weight of this world

And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart 
That’s frail and torn
I wanna know the sun can rise 
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause I’m worn

I know I need to lift my eyes up
But I'm too weak
Life just won’t let up
And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart 
That’s frail and torn
I wanna know the sun can rise 
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause I’m worn

My prayers are wearing thin
And I’m worn
Even before the day begins
I’m worn
I’ve lost my will to fight
I’m worn
Heaven come and flood my eyes

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart 
That’s frail and torn
I wanna know the sun can rise 
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause all that’s dead inside will be reborn

Though I’m worn
Yeah I’m worn

I Would Be Lost Without My Blogger

Ahhhh, it's 8pm and I almost forgot to put up a Thursday post! I am trying to be more disciplined in my writing by journaling every night and putting up a new blog post every Thursday, so I really didn't think it was a good idea for me to slack off and not post one today. Anyway, this one clearly isn't going to be super thoughtful or logically organized or whatever because it's kinda last minute.

ANYWAY...

I love Winter Break because I actually have free time to do whatever I want. And whatever I want usually includes watching shows online and making a dent in my to-read list. One of the things I got into recently is BBC's Sherlock.

Having been around Tumblr for a while, I have seen A LOT of Sherlock posts and I came to the realization that everyone except for me had already seen it and believed it to be the best thing ever. With this new found free time, I decided to jump on the bandwagon.

I am so glad I did. The show is witty and clever, and the pairing of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman is fantastic. I find myself in the same position as John Watson, exclaiming "Brilliant!" every time Sherlock makes some super accurate deduction based on tiny details the average person would never pick up on. I love it. I absolutely love it.

If you have never seen Sherlock, I highly suggest you add it to your Netflix Instant Queue right now. Seriously. Open up a new tab, watch an episode (they're around 90 minutes each), then come back and tell me how much you love it.

Okay, go.